Before you invest a lot of $$$ in cookware, take about 15 minutes to read this egullet article. Read it, and even if you only retain a third of it, you'll be far more knowledgeable than any department store cookware salesperson (and most specialty cookware shops salespersons as well). http://forums.egullet.org/index.php/topic/25717-understanding-stovetop-cookware/ Ask yourself what sort of cooking you plan to do. If you're gonna do a lot of low, slow comfort food cooking, a few Le Creuset items make a lot of sense. If you are going to make some fancy sauces that require precise temperature control, then some $$$ copper Falk Culinair pans make sense. If you don't plan on doing either, then buying either of those big ticket items makes no sense whatsoever. Now for my personal preferences, or what I wish I had known when I started cooking seriously 4 decades ago: If you're just starting out, consider the pressure cooker set at the link. It has an 8 qt stockpot and a 4 qt saute pan, a pressure lid that fits them both, a steamer insert, and a plain lid that fits them both for non-pressure applications. I've cooked with it, and I know it works fine on any heat source including induction. And the pieces work fine in non-pressure mode; that is, they're fine as a stockpot and a saute pan. So if storage space is an issue, these will do double duty: an excellent buy for the $$. I've seen this set on sale for around $90, but it's a good deal even at full retail. If you're afraid of pressure cookers, don't be; the new ones nowadays are far safer than Grandma's old jiggle-top contraption. You can get more info on pressure cooking at missvickie.com. In addition to that set, a couple of inexpensive teflon nonstick aluminum pans ( I use the ones from Sam's-- they seem to me to be the same ones as Bed Bath & Beyond has, but about 1/3 cheaper). I have some Le Creuset and a few knockoff copycat pieces, and they are nice for low, slow cooking of pot roasts and the like. (Although the pressure cooker will take a 4 pound piece of chuck and make it mouth-wateringly fork tender in about an hour, so I haven't used my LC for that in a while) If you don't go the pressure cooker route, consider a multicooker that has a 8 or 10 qt stockpot, a pasta insert, and a steamer insert. These are quite useful. Tramontina makes a good one, and I've seen it at WalMart--very good quality for the money. Dunno if I'd go with All Clad skillets. I'm sure they're fine, but your $$ might be better applied elsewhere. I'm currently experimenting with Paderno and deBuyer carbon steel skillets. Once they are well seasoned, I plan to phase out the teflon pans. They're not quite nonstick yet, but I like them because you can heat them higher than you can a teflon pan. They're a lot like cast iron except that they're a little lighter, and the initial surface is much slicker than most cast iron. (So far I seem to prefer the Paderno to the deBuyer, but I've only played with each of them a little so far.) One other item you may consider: get a good roasting pan. Yes, you can roast a bird or a roast in a disposable aluminum foil pan, but you can't then drain the fat, put the pan on the stovetop and then scrape up all the good little brown bits in the pan (the 'fond') and make a sauce with it on a stovetop burner. Now here's my $0.02: I really would advise AGAINST getting a set of cookware. Think of each piece you are considering as a tool, and ask yourself, 'What task do I need to perform in the kitchen, and what would be the best single item to do that, given the constraints of my budget?' Invariably in a set there will be a few items you don't use, taking up space. I was given a nice set of Cuisinart cookware. The saucepans I like a lot; the skillets are awful. I prefer the cheapo nonstick skillets, vintage cast iron, or carbon steel to them. Their only advantage is that they can go in the dishwasher. Here is a link that might be useful: pressure cooker set

Oh, mtn I agree completely--- that's almost exactly what I said to our ID when he sent me to the tk collections site for kitchen chairs. Luckily my mother came up with 4 French ladderbacks and I filled in with parsons chairs at the ends. But I spent a good deal of time playing with the weaves and colors--- this was about four or five years ago at the very beginning of the trend. We ended up putting four bistro type chairs on our screened porch that are all weather aluminum but look remarkably like rattan, which I got as a close out from a furniture supply company for practically the cost of the shipping! And the ability to take a hosing and not lose your stomach for continued renovation seems to be a required trait in a homeowner :-)

I think it depends on your taste...but I like the plain subways of #1, without the rope....or if you like something with a real pattern, use the "baset weave" for the entire blacksplash...and don't use anything different behind the stove. Just FYI, I had marble and hated it...I couldn't stand the etching that tomatoes, lemon, etc. caused....but some do not mind etching...so you decide what you can live with. I did use the sealer that was recommended and was told by the dealer, "No one should use marble in the kitchen area"...wish they had told me in the first place!

I redid my son's kitchen with about the same number of cabinets as you have. We found decent looking and surprisingly well built RTA Chinese cabinets through a local discount builder supply for $6500. That was including an upgrade from particle board to plywood carcases. They assembled them for $25/cabinet. (At higher end kitchen places we were offered the opportunity to buy the same cabinets for nearly twice the money). I was able to install them without any problems in about two days work. Because of the plumbing and electrical work needed I tore the kitchen down to the studs, and took up three layers of prior flooring down to the subfloor. Moving plumbing and gas cost about $2000 with the plumber, I was able to pull an electrical permit myself in his town and added a new subpanel and completely rewired the kitchen for the cost of materials, less than $1000. Granite countertops were a splurge at $2400. Prefinished maple hardwood floor ran about $600. Very nice, nearly new pre-owned appliances came from Norm's for about $2000 for stove, refrigerator, and dishwasher. A decent hood was $600, building a soffit to hide the exhaust pipe was just cost of materials. I hired a plasterer for blueboard and plaster which was about $1000 for that room. So with incidentals (permits, paint, remaindered sink, faucet, and light fixtures), we spent about $16,000 in total, doing everything I could myself. We could have saved $1500 or so by using laminate countertops, and most of the plumber's bill if I'd been allowed to do the work myself, but it's hard to imagine we could have completed the project much cheaper.